MIAMI BEACH (AP) — Olga Guillot, the celebrated Cuban singer known as the queen of the bolero, died here on Monday. She was 87. The cause was a heart attack, a family spokeswoman said.
Born in Santiago, Cuba, Ms. Guillot was first recognized for her vocal talent at age 13, when she placed second in a singing contest with her sister. At 20, she performed with Edith Piaf. She left Cuba in 1962, two years after the start of the Communist revolution, and settled in Mexico. Over the years, Ms. Guillot had many gold and platinum albums and performed at Carnegie Hall and other concert halls around the world. She also appeared, often as herself, in several movies. .
Vicky Roig, a fellow bolero singer and a close friend, said she had spoken with Ms. Guillot about a week before her death. Ms. Guillot had been preparing to travel to Mexico to perform with the National Symphony Orchestra.
“For many bolero singers, she was the image of who we wanted to be,” Ms. Roig said. “We all wanted to imitate her. She was our reference as an artist.”
Ms. Guillot’s hits included “La Gloria Eres Tu,” “Tu Me Acostumbraste” and the song with which she was most closely identified, “Miénteme.”
In March she had participated in a march and demonstration in Miami, led by the singer Gloria Estefan, in support of the Ladies in White, a group of wives and family members of Cuban political prisoners.In an interview with The Associated Press in 2007, Ms. Guillot said she had experienced only one disappointment in her career: that in her native country, “there is a whole generation that doesn’t know” her and other performers who fled Cuba.
“They don’t know anything about those of us who have represented Cuba in exile, in the world.”
July 16, 2010: Olga Guillot, Singer Who Put Stamp on Boleros, Dies at 87
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